


why every time I try to tell you how I feel, it's like a hiccup-cup comes up and it won't come, come

by sagansjagger



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is Sunshine, Adrien Agreste Knows, Adrien Agreste Needs Help, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has a Crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, F/M, Hiccups, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28039428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sagansjagger/pseuds/sagansjagger
Summary: Tikki has a cold, so Adrien ends up with the residual effects of an akuma after the Miraculous Cure doesn't completely work: hiccups.He can't seem to get rid of them...But they do change his life.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 10
Kudos: 73





	why every time I try to tell you how I feel, it's like a hiccup-cup comes up and it won't come, come

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sanj_sanj](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanj_sanj/gifts).



> This is a birthday fic for Sanj from the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server (link below). Thanks for being such a great person, Sanj and happy birthday!

"Hic!" Adrien hiccuped on Marinette's chaise for the 7489th time that afternoon. He'd been hit by an akuma earlier, and because Tikki had a cold, the Miraculous Cure didn't take away the residual effects: hiccups. 

Adrien was just grateful that the akuma had been simply annoying and not more dangerous. "Hic! My lady, I don't think these are going away with time."

Marinette--who wasn't his girlfriend yet because he was too afraid of rejection to ask--squinted at him. "Hmm. We should try some methods, then." She pulled her phone out of her pocket and started tapping away.

"How's--hic!--Tikki?" Adrien asked, another hiccup escaping his lips. "Hic! I know she's with Plagg, but--hic!"

"She'll be okay," Marinette said, wheeling her desk chair over to him and plopping down into it. "She told me she just needs rest."

"Hopefully he's letting her get that rest."

Marinette's eyes glittered. "Last time I checked on them, they were napping and Plagg was the big spoon."

Adrien blinked at her. "That's--hic!--adorable."

Marinette went back to scrolling through her phone. "There's a few things we can try. Have you held your breath for a few minutes?"

"Yep. Hic!" Adrien nodded. "Tried that already."

"Hmm." Marinette tapped her chin. "You can breathe into a paper bag, but we don't have one of those here. Try hugging your knees."

"Hic! What?"

Marinette tapped her phone's screen. "Bring your knees to your chest and hold them there for two minutes."

Adrien did as he was told. But this method didn't work either; after the two minutes were up, he was still hiccuping. "What's next?"

"Something called the Valsalva maneuver," Marinette said, leaning forward to pinch his nose. Adrien blinked at her. "Try exhaling while your mouth is closed and while I'm holding onto your nose."

Adrien tried to breathe with his nose compressed, but that just gave him a headache and a growing sense of claustrophobia. He gently plucked Marinette's hand off his face. "That one doesn't--hic!--work."

"Okay," Marinette said, taking her hand back. "There's also pressure points we can trigger on your body. Stick your tongue out."

"Hic!" Adrien obediently stuck his tongue out, and Marinette whistled. 

"You really trust me, don't you, Kitty?"

Adrien pulled his tongue back into his mouth to speak. "With my life."

Marinette beamed at him. "Likewise. Now, I'm going to tug on your tongue, okay?"

"Okay," Adrien said, letting his tongue hang out of his mouth for her. She grasped the tip with her thumb and forefinger and pulled. 

Adrien blinked as she released him. "Did it work?"

"I think so!"

Adrien was about to whoop, but then he hiccuped again. "I guess not."

Marinette glanced at her phone again. "Okay, lie down. I want to try something."

Adrien stretched out on the chaise lounge, resting his feet over the arm. He continued hiccuping even as Marinette applied pressure on his belly just below his sternum. 

He shook his head. "Hic! No dice."

Marinette huffed. She took his hand, using her thumbs to apply pressure to his palm. "Is this working?" 

"Hic! Nope! Hic!"

Marinette placed her phone in her purse and made a circular motion with her finger. "Turn over and lie down on your belly. I'm going to try to massage your carotid artery."

"The one in my--hic!--neck?" Adrien said, blinking at her.

"You have a better idea?"

Adrien shook his head and rolled over. To his utter shock, Marinette climbed on top of him, straddling his waist. She stroked his neck with her thumbs, gently increasing the pressure as they traveled down to his back.

Adrien's eyes flutt

ered closed. He'd never had a neck rub before, and it felt great. As she continued dragging her fingers up and down his neck, he sighed. "That feels--hic!--great, thank you."

"You're welcome." Marinette grunted as she shifted position off of him. "But it didn't work."

Adrien sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "No, but--hic!--it was nice."

Marinette fished her phone out of her pocket and tapped the screen. “Okay, the next methods involve water.”

“Okay,” Adrien said, hiccuping again. “I’m ready.”

“Just a second, let me go get some glasses filled with water of various temperatures.”

“Various temperatures?”

Marinette showed him the tiny writing on her phone. “Some methods involve ice water, some involve warm water, some involve just plain water.”

“Huh,” Adrien said, raising his brows. “Hic! I’ll try anything.”

Marinette disappeared down the stairs. Adrien was left by himself to twiddle his thumbs and hiccup. His chest and throat were starting to hurt.

Marinette soon returned with five glasses of water--some of which had ice and one that was steaming. “Okay, for the first one, you need to swallow some water while squeezing your nose closed.”

“My nose again?” Adrien said, hating how whiny his voice sounded. He just wanted these hiccups to be over, but he didn’t want to cut off his air supply while doing it. 

Marinette handed him a glass of room-temperature water. He pinched his nose shut and swallowed some. “Well?” she said, cocking her head at him. “Did it work?”

“I--hic!--don’t think so.”

Marinette offered him the next glass, which was filled with ice. “Drink this slowly,” she instructed, taking the first glass back and setting it on the tray. “Apparently slowly sipping ice water may ‘help stimulate the vagus nerve.’”

Adrien blinked. “And that will cure my--hic!--hiccups?”

“Hopefully,” Marinette said, sighing. “I’m running out of things to try.”

Adrien sipped the ice water, hiccuping all the while. He offered the glass back to Marinette, but she shook her head. 

"Suck on an ice cube, then swallow it when it reaches a reasonable size," she said, pointing at the cubes in the glass. "Maybe that will work?"

Adrien followed her instructions, feeling the smaller ice cube slide down his throat. "Hic! Hic! Hic! This is no--hic!--good."

"Okay, here's the traditional method," Marinette said, taking the glass to him and handing him another glass filled with room temperature water. "Drink from the opposite side of the glass. Tip the glass up under your chin to drink from the far side."

All that resulted in was a wet Adrien as the water dribbled down his front. "Aw, man!" He hissed like a cat--or a Chat--and tried again. This time, he succeeded in drinking from the far side of the glass, but the traditional method didn't get rid of his hiccups. "This is impossible."

Marinette smiled at him and held out a fist. "Nothing's impossible with you by my side, Kitty."

Adrien beamed back and touched his knuckles to hers. "You and me against the world, my Lady?"

"You and me against the world." Marinette handed him the warm water glass, which had cooled from steaming to something approaching drinkable. "Slowly drink this without stopping to breathe."

"Hic!" Adrien sucked down a big gulp of air and took the glass, downing it in one prolonged sip. He paused for a moment, breathing in without his diaphragm spasming. Then he hiccuped again. "Hic! No go."

Marinette exchanged glasses with him again, offering him ice water instead of warm water. "Gargle this."

Adrien took a drink of the water and then tipped his head back to gargle it. He hiccuped in the middle and almost choked. "Ugh," he said once he'd swallowed the ice water. "This is getting annoying."

Marinette took the glass back and handed him the last one and a handkerchief. "We have one last water method to try. Then we'll move on to sugars."

Adrien lifted the glass and the white cloth. "Sugars? I like sugars. Hic!"

Following Marinette's instructions, Adrien covered the glass with the cloth and lifted it to his lips. He sipped the water through the handkerchief, which was tricky at first, but eventually he understood how to perform the feat. 

Unfortunately, it had seemingly no effect on his hiccups. "Hic!"

Marinette placed all the empty glasses on the tray and lifted it. "Okay, I'll be right back. There's still a couple more methods to try."

"Hic!" Adrien flashed her a thumbs up. "Sounds good. See you in a bit." 

Marinette left, and Adrien used her restroom. All that water had made his bladder swell, and he was happy that Marinette had a bathroom upstairs. Marinette returned just as he resumed his place on the chaise. "Hic! Welcome back."

"Thanks." She carried a spoonful of honey, a jar of granulated sugar, a chopped up lemon, and a metal tablespoon full of yellow liquid on a tray.

"What's the yellow liquid? Hic!"

"Apple cider vinegar," Marinette said, and laughed at his scrunched-up nose. "It won't be so bad. We can do the lemon and the vinegar first and the sugar and honey next."

"Hic! Sounds like a plan."

Adrien allowed Marinette to pour a drop of the vinegar on his tongue. He promptly gagged. The vinegar tasted acrid and overwhelmingly of apples and while it made him cough, it wasn't the solution to his hiccups. 

Following Marinette's directions, he sucked on a lemon slice next. She giggled at his puckered lips. That, of course, didn't solve the problem.

Next, Marinette placed a pinch of the granulated sugar on his tongue. Due to the sourness of the lemon and vinegar, the sugar was the sweetest he'd ever tasted. "Mmm. Hic!"

Marinette sighed and handed him the spoonful of honey. "I know you're allergic to peanut butter, so we're trying honey instead. Allow this to dissolve in your mouth a bit before swallowing."

"Hic! You got it." Adrien popped the honey into his mouth. It was smooth and delicious, coating his palate. The honey dissolved quicker than he expected, melting on his tongue. 

Adrien stared at Marinette.

Marinette stared at Adrien.

"Did that work?" she asked, to which he nodded.

"I think it did!" he said, leaping to his feet. "Oh, boy, I was really getting sick of--hic!"

They both groaned. 

Marinette pressed three fingers to her forehead. "Well, there's one more thing we can try.” She tugged Adrien down by his collar, looking deep into his eyes. “Adrien. I have something to tell you.”

“Hic! Yes?”

“I’ll never date you.”

Adrien closed his eyes. He’d been worried about that. Of course she didn’t want him. He just wished she’d let him down more gently. He drew a deep breath through his nose and opened his eyes, letting loose a spate of hiccups. “I’ve accepted that.”

Marinette gasped, throwing her hands in the air. “I’m not serious! I was trying to scare you!”

Adrien furrowed his brow. “That doesn’t scare me; that makes me sad!”

“Oh, Adrien, I’m so sorry,” Marinette said, pressing her hands to her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Adrien said, his shoulders slumping. Then a thought occurred to him. “So… Hic! You’ve considered dating me?”

Marinette bit her lip and looked away. “Um. Yeah.”

Adrien gently grasped her chin in his hand, raising her gaze to his. Her bluebell gaze was wide and searching. “Hic! Don’t get my hopes up, my Lady.”

Her gaze turned tender. “Adrien Agreste,” she whispered, and then hesitated, reaching up to cup his cheeks. “Chat Noir. I very much want to date you. Will you be my boyfriend?”

Adrien rocketed up to cloud nine. He smiled broadly. Keeping his eyes on hers, he lifted her wrist to his lips and pressed a kiss there, making her blush. “I would be honored. Hic!”

Marinette beamed at him but soon frowned. “These stupid hiccups. I wish we could solve them.”

Adrien cocked his head. “You know one thing we haven’t tried? Hic!”

“Hmm?”

“True love’s kiss.”

Marinette’s cheeks pinked to a dusky rose color. “Oh,” she breathed, her lips slightly parted. “I’m your true love?”

“You’re my girlfriend,” Adrien said, rubbing his nose on hers. “Hic! And yeah, my true love.”

Marinette’s features took on the determined expression he recognized as Ladybug-with-a-plan. “Okay. Let’s do it. For the sake of science, I will kiss you.”

Adrien barked out a laugh. “Hopefully it’s for more than science! Hic!”

Marinette didn’t waste time. She gripped his collar in both her hands and tugged him down to her height, capturing his lips with hers. Adrien tilted his head in response and accidentally brushed his nose against hers. His eyes fluttered closed.

The kiss was slightly awkward. Neither of them knew what they were doing. But Adrien was thrilled to finally be kissing his Lady.

He glided his lips against hers, luxuriating in the feel of her mouth on his. Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck, toying with the hair at the back of it. His hands roamed over her shoulders and settled on the small of her back, pulling her flush against him. 

All Adrien wanted was to be closer, closer, closer…

Just when Adrien began to run out of air, Marinette broke the kiss with a gasp. Adrien opened his eyes to catch hers. Her gaze was blown wide and beautiful, and she grinned up at him with flushed cheeks. “Did it work?”

Adrien waited, bracing himself for the inevitable spasm of his diaphragm.

But no hiccup came.

He laughed. “Yes!”

“We should inform the rest of the city,” Marinette said, back in Ladybug mode. “Other people may still be suffering from hiccups. We should--”

“First,” Adrien said, pressing a kiss to her cheek, “can we kiss again?”

Marinette giggled. “Adrien!”

“Can you blame me?” he said with a cheeky grin. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for years.”

“Saving the city first.” Marinette flicked him in the nose. “Then kisses.”

“Kisses, plural?”

Marinette beamed. “As many as you want.”

Adrien laughed. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“Oh.” Marinette patted his cheek. “I expect you to.”

 _Thanks, Hawkmoth,_ Adrien thought, inordinately pleased with how his day had gone, _for the akuma that gave me hiccups. I owe you one._

Adrien held out a fist. “You and me against the world, my Lady?”

Marinette nodded and brushed her knuckles to his. “You and me against the world.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr at [@sing-in-me-oh-muse](https://sing-in-me-oh-muse.tumblr.com)!
> 
> \---
> 
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> 
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